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Friday, March 21, 2014

Here is your roving blogger reporting from Riverton, Utah, home of Nancy Drew, SWH, Sweetie and Curly. Life is going swimmingly. (Love that term!) I flew in on Saturday morning, went to Church on Sunday and then on to the work week. Nancy Drew and SWH went off to work. Sweetie to school and Curly to daycare.

This blogger's "work week" has a different look to it. I got up at 10:00 a.m. Delicious! Before the readers get too jealous, let me state that I went to bed at midnight. Oh wait, I think that really didn't make a justification of ten hours of sleep.

Since ND worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I figured I could at least be helpful! I picked up after myself. I cleaned up the kitchen and put away clean dishes. I made dinner. To be completely forthcoming, I made dinner on Monday night, Tuesday we had leftovers, Wednesday ND brought home pizza and Thursday we had leftovers again. I cannot stress how difficult this has been. Probably why I have had to sleep longer!

ND took off Thursday and Friday for total kickback and fun with Momma, as she calls me. Thursday noon we took off on a shopping! I thought it would be loads of fun to take pictures of each stop of the way and post them, like I've seen other bloggers do. I have a lot of improvement to make. I managed to do it at the very first store. After that, after each stop, as we drove away I would remember I should have taken pictures. The first stop was the most exciting to me.

IKEA

I have never been to Ikea! I have drooled over the thought of going one day. Ikea is a few short miles away from ND's home. Number #1 on my list of things to do, even ahead of a Quilt Store, was IKEA.

Here I am!!! I'm going IN IKEA!

I had to hold myself back from buying some cool stuff, like curtains, one of those basket cart thingies that you can choose the baskets that pull in and out, and bumerang, which is not a product from Austrailia. It's a wooden hangers with clips on it for hanging skirts. I found a perfect upright dresser for my bedroom. I only had 13 pounds left in my check-in luggage.

We hit the lighting section and my daughter saw an interesting lamp.

The Medusa Lamp!

My objective was a little "bendy" light that Bonnie Hunter had raved about on her blog. It is perfect for getting light exactly where you need it on your sewing machine or longarm. After wandering around, and finding cool things to buy, I finally found it!

Score! I found the jansjo!

To hear more scintillating details and pictures, here is where they are on Bonnie's blog, Quiltville.blogspot.com.

After our grueling trudge through the huge IKEA store, we checked out and I decided we needed a treat! I resisted the cinnamon rolls and got us yogurt cones!

We followed up by going to a quilt store!

Turquoise for Rainbow Sampler & Reds for HST BOM

We were a tired pair when we returned home. We hit a shoe store for ND and Deseret Industry, a thrift store, before wrapping up the day. I'd say this was a day worth of Whooping about!

Check out other Friday enthusiasts at Whoop! Whoop! Friday. The badge is on the right sidebar.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Oh, my piquant and captivating friend!What wonders and delights you hold!You are always in my refrigeratorWaiting for new adventures untold!

There are no words my tongue can employTo describe thy creamy liquid wonderI hasten to pluck thee from my refrigeratorOh you that brings me such joy.

Yes, I admit it! I am a buttermilk fanatic!Yes, I admit it! I gag if I have to drink it from a cup!Okay, where’s the attraction????

It’s all in the baking…yummity-yum=yum. The best bread recipes are made with buttermilk.It’s a magical liquid. It elevates everything it’s baked in.Then there are cookies, and pies…Here’s a favorite from our family. Irish Soda Bread. It is a type of sheepherder’s bread, nothing like what you see as traditional Irish Soda Bread. Once made, pull off a chunk with your hand and butter. And you’re in Buttermilk Irish Heaven!

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups flour1 tsp salt1 tsp sugar1 tsp soda1-1/3 to 1½ cups buttermilkSift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Make a hollow in the center and pour in 1 cup of the buttermilk. Mix with spoon and add enough more buttermilk to make a firm but not dry loaf. Turn onto a floured board and knead lightly. Shape into a round loaf and cut across the top so that it will not crack. Place in a buttered cast iron skillet or stoneware shallow pan with edges and bake at 350' for 40 to 45 minutes. Loaf should be broken, not cut. It is good hot or cold.And now for another buttermilk treat!This Buttermilk Raisin Bread came from a beloved cookbook of mine: Bread Machine Magic. I have tried dozens of recipes from it and all of them have turned out to be favorites!

Buttermilk Raisin Bread

7/8 cup buttermilk1 egg3 cups flour1 tsp salt 1/3 cup butter1/4 tsp baking soda2/3 cup raisins1-1/2 tsp yeast3 Tbsp sugarPlace all ingredients in bread pan, select light crust or 1 pound setting. Press start.After the baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan, place on cooling rack, and allow to cool one hour before slicing. (Oh yeah sure! Who can wait one hour? What a crummy cookbook!)1-1/2 pound loafCooking Tips: Getting it right after baking: Here’s how I make my bread have a soft crust. When you get the bread out of the pan, wrap it in a terry cloth towel (completely wrapped) Place on a cooling rack. Cool completely in towel before putting in plastic bag.If you find yourself always having leftover buttermilk in the fridge after baking a recipe, here's a website that will show you how to freeze and store it. Very interesting!

And now…let’s find out. How many of you can wait until the bread is completely cooled before you slice it and eat?

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I’ve only managed one charity quilt in my quilting life. My intent has been to do more but I haven’t followed through.Enter Hands to Help Charity Quilt Challenge. Each year between March and June, quilters are challenged to make a quilt for charity. This year there are three charities to choose from: Quilts of Compassion Hurricane Sandy Survivors Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo

You can click on the badge on the right to learn more about the Challenge and find out about each of the charities.

I hope you join along!

Sarah, who writes the blog: Confessions Of A Fabric Addict, is an amazing person. She is a compassionate woman who runs a quilt ministry that gives quilts to those in need. She needs quilts to be donated also!

In addition she hosts the very fun, Can I Give A WHOOP WHOOP on Fridays, runs a blog FOR quilters, BY quilters for sharing compassionate quilts: Quilts Are For Giving.

And if you think that doesn’t keep her busy enough, you should read one of her Monday posts: Make-A-List Monday. It wears me out just reading it!

I have chosen to make a quilt for Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo. This was my first choice because of my Mom. She went through chemo in the 70’s for breast cancer. I can picture in my mind how delighted she would have been to receive a quilt while in chemo. You can read more about my Mom’s story here.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Busy week, but not for my sewing machine! I know it’s pining away for me… It’s hard to quilt when your machine is in California and you are in Utah.Yes indeedy, here I am the lucky Nonnie visiting Nancy Drew and her family including two adorable grandchildren!

Curly, SWH & Sweetie

It makes for a brand-new genre of design wall! It’s called: What did I bring with me?I bought 4 more fabrics for the Rainbow Challenge. This month the color is turquoise. My daughter took me to a quilt store that was under a mile away from her home! I’m green with envy. On Thursday when she has a day off we are going shopping and visit a few more quilt stores. I’m a happy camper.

My attempt to at least pull some minutes out for my 30/30. I have a redwork quilt I’m working towards. I started in 2007 embroidering blocks. I had copied pictures from a 1964 coloring book my Aunt Marie kept for the young nieces and nephews to color.I’m almost done with this one:Excuse the wrinkles from the hoop. I didn’t want to iron on the floss. I’m pretty sure I tested it for bleeding, but not taking a chance today. Also, it has a water type mark (I hope that’s what it is!) which I’m not messing with today either.I have left all the faces blank on my blocks, except for two. One of my attempts turned out making the child looking like an alien. The other made the children look deformed. I’m looking up a friend that embroiders a lot to teach me how to do the cute faces from the 60’s.Well, sad to say, *sniff* I have discovered that the 30/30SC challenge is too challenging. I started out March 1 with 30 minutes. Then March 3 with 60 minutes. March 5th at my weekly quilt night with friend, I started a tree skirt for Nancy Drew and family.

Hold it right there! 30/30SC is about eking out 30 minutes of quilting everyday for March for YOURSELF. I was so tickled to start and dream about quilting just for me! Me, Me, Me! As you can see it only took 5 days for me to fall apart. I haven’t quilted everyday for someone, much less myself! Ah, shoot, I was so hoping.That brings me to another more woeful tale. And it involves my evil pets again. First it was my cats. Read about it here, if you dare!I am hoping your have a strong stomach, cause this ain’t gonna be pleasant. You've been warned…On Saturday, after a grueling week of slaving away in the sweatshop that someone calls a job, I decided to fritter away my day. Quilt all day. Considering I had been through a week where I cried about an incident at work, plus got indignant about the treatment being dished out to my husband at work…It was all those hours ahead where I could dabble in my quilting room.I was a-twitter with the excitement of working on the love-bird’s log cabin quilt. I had it spiderwebbed by column and was ready for joining the rows. The finish line was in sight! Time for the last sprint!Arrival in Quilting RoomPicking Up theLog Cabin Bundle from ChairPlacing Bundle on Cutting TableOpening the Bundle

Don’t you EVEN try looking cute!Dog slinks away avoiding looking at my face.She'd better hideIt will take a few daysyears eons, okay, weeks for me to look kindly at her.I punished her by going on vacation! What an evil scheme!For those who are going to experience this horrific event:

I was able to take the three affected blocks out of the quilt since they were spiderwebbed.

Soak blocks (quilt) in cold water with Woolite.

Let soak for 30-60 minutes.

Upon inspection if staining is gone, remove it from water.

DO NOT WRING!

Place blocks on a hard surface. I used my washing machine top.

Gently scrape at any remnants of doody from fabric.

Rinse gently…gently…gently.

Press blocks together in your hand without twisting.

If you have not pre-washed your fabric, you will have to pin the blocks to a flat surface, gently stretching the fabric to the size of unwashed blocks.

If you have prewashed fabrics, continue from here.

Dry in a place where it will be undisturbed by Devil Dog.

Make sure there is air circulation to both sides or place on a thick towel.